Viewpoint

England play Colombia on Tuesday, and if they win they will be only two steps away from the World Cup final. Sputnik looks at the pressure on UK Prime Minister Theresa May to go to Russia if England go all the way.

Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, has reportedly told Paris Saint-Germain that he wants to leave the club after the World Cup, currently underway in Russia. Radio Sputnik has discussed the situation of football transfers with Oleg Dmitriev, author of the blog "Through a Fan's Eyes.”

Landing the job of someone handling the German national team’s army of fans may be a dream come true for many, but Tom Roeder knows that there is more to it than just looking for enough beer and conducting a fan choirs quire.

The World Cup in Russia is off to a flyer, serving up a feast of football amid the special and unique atmosphere generated by this quadrennial event. Fans from every corner of the globe having been packing the stadiums, some of them custom-built, reminding us that despite our differences we are one human family.

The Daily Star notoriously wrote a story about the Russian mafia allegedly readying prostitutes to blackmail English football fans. Dr. Tara McCormack, a lecturer in international relations at Leicester University in Britain, offered her take on this.

According to The Daily Mail, World Cup fans had been issued a warning that the Russian mafia could be readying prostitutes to blackmail fans by threatening to send revealing pictures to their wives. Mark Perryman, writer, research fellow in sport and leisure culture at the University of Brighton gave his take on this.

Sputnik spoke to a sports teacher from the UK who has set up a British football school in Russia to train young children. In the light of the World Cup tournament in Russia, professional coach Richard Peers shared his insight into the big game.

We’ve profiled the market leaders for the World Cup in a series of Sportsworld columns- but what about those teams who might outperform their odds and perhaps even be surprise winners? Let’s take a look at the ‘dark horses’ of Russia 2018.

You’ve got to risk your life every six months to stay alive, the film director Elia Kazan once observed. He’s likely to have been a fan of the Isle of Man’s famous TT motorcycle races. Since the event’s inception in 1907 over 150 competitors have lost their lives, taking part in what has to be the world’s most dangerous sporting event.

Russia will host the World Cup for the first time in its history. The games are scheduled to take place in 12 arenas in 11 cities. Sputnik spoke with Afolabi Olaniyi Olatokunbo, volunteer for the World Cup from Nigeria, asking him about his experience.

English football fans can "absolutely" wave national flags in support of their team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia this summer despite warnings by a police chief in Britain, according to a spokesperson for Visit Russia office in the UK.

Sputnik Polska reporter Grażyna Garboś spoke with Maciej Rybus, the FC Lokomotiv Moscow and Polish national team halfback about his marriage, living in Russia and chances of his national team winning the World Cup 2018.

Diego Forlan, the former Uruguayan striker, is looking forward to the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. This time around he'll be a broadcaster for this colossal competition; previously he has been a FIFA ambassador and a simple spectator.

A campaign encouraging the boycott of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia is gaining steam. Avaaz, a US-based 'cyber-activist' civic organization is behind it. However, as Sputnik has discovered, the group has not-so-open links to financial speculator George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.

The dust has not yet settled around the Roberto Firmino – Mason Holgate scandal in the English Premiere League, but the British newspapers have found a new scapegoat, and have turned to launching racism accusations against Spartak Moscow just months before the FIFA World Cup in Russia. Was it just a coincidence or a pre-planned campaign?

On December 11-12, a Tourism Industry Professionals Forum was held in Moscow. While the attention of the participants was focused on preparations of Moscow for 2018 FIFA World Cup, Sputnik's correspondent managed to interview Konstantin Goryainov, the Vice President of Interstate Hotels & Resorts, global hotel management company.

UK newspaper The Sun has warned England’s football fans against travelling to Russia for next year’s World Cup saying that hundreds of Russian football hooligans will be free to attack English supporters at the upcoming matches. Radio Sputnik spoke with Diego Cione, a hardcore football fan from Berlin about these accusations.

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